Maybe it is time to consider layer 3 internet exchanges#

James Rice, Jump Networks Ltd

• Why: A structured challenge to thirty years of IXP orthodoxy — should exchanges offer routed, point-to-point L3 ports instead of a shared L2 peering LAN with route servers? The whole industry replaced large L2 domains with routed ones everywhere else.
• What: The case for L3 exchanges built on three qualities of connectivity: correct forwarding (L2 fabrics have silent forwarding failure modes with confidentiality and availability consequences), shorter physical paths (an L2 participant picks next-hops without knowing which is closer; an L3 fabric does closest-exit routing like a transit provider), and capacity headroom (with a real 9/11 case study where LINX port headroom let the BBC keep broadcasting). Historical reasons for L2 (1990s: expensive CPU routers vs cheap switches) no longer hold since switches and routers both forward L2/L3 in hardware. Followed by a panel including Inter.link, LINX, Cloudflare, Google and Zayo.
• How: Argument plus worked example of where a shared peering LAN falls short; the rest was structured audience/panel discussion on whether networks would prefer L3 ports and which IXs would offer them.
• Where applicable: IXP operators and anyone buying exchange ports — a design conversation, not a deployment; the remote-peering latency caveat (attracting traffic via distant PoPs) applies to participants more than the fabric model.